SOOTY GRUNTER
Hephaestus fulinginosus
GENERAL INFORMATION
DESCRIPTION
A dark gray to black coloured fish. Colour changes with mood. It has a perch style body shape and an interesting face. Fins are short and practical.
SIZE
I am told this fish can reach 30 cm in captivity.
APPEAL
This fish is spectacular. It's black and heavily built body combined with it's aggressive nature gives it an almost immortal image. It also seems to be an intellegant fish with the capability of recognising human beings. It certainly has a lot of character. Will often swim up to people who approach the aquarium, expecting to be fed. Tends to watch people from inside the aquarium. Can be trained to take food from the hand. This is a spectacular fish when it gets big.
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BIG FISH - AUSTRALIAN NATIVE FISH has this great image of a sooty grunter. |
MAINTENANCE OF CAPTIVE SPECIMENS
SUITABILITY
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Advantages: Happy in a standard aquarium (120 cm or more). Defends itself if harassed. Easy to feed. Eats almost anything. Not particularly sensitive to water quality. Happy in a tropical tank. |
Disadvantages: Grows to a large size. Will eat other fish that are smaller. Is very territorial and will violently attack other fish. May fight with its own kind. I don't know how it treats plants. |
Not for the beginner. Similar to keeping a large cichlid. They are violently aggressive.
AQUARIUM CONDITIONS
| Minimum aquarium size: | 120 cm X 40 cm. |
| Water temperature: | 25 C. |
| Water salinity: | Freshwater only. |
| Filtration & oxygenation: | Water needs to be kept clean and well oxygenated. |
| Lighting: | Not critical. |
| Plants: | Unknown. |
| Furnishings: | Needs a suitable hiding place. |
| Notes: |
AQUARIUM BEHAVIOR
This fellow is a fairly aggressive fish however temperament apparently varies with each individual. Our fish dislikes other fish and actively harasses anything it can take on, chasing them around and even hunting them down when they are hiding. It seems to ignore the large Oscars which co-inhabit it's tank. It has a distinct location in the aquarium which it has claimed behind a large rock. The fish spends the majority of it's time there (probably hiding from the Oscars). Every five minutes or so it will leave it's hiding place and swim actively around the tank looking for food. This fish seems to be aware of my presence and will attempt to attract my attention if it is hungry.
FEEDING HABITS
It started eating one day after I acquired it. It is an aggressive feeder, and will take food from the mouths of other fish. I have fed this one on floating pellets, sinking pellets and minced beef heart.
FISH KEEPING RECOMMENDATIONS
This fish is large and aggressive. It needs a big tank. It should probably be maintained by itself but can be kept with other suitable large and aggressive fishes if you know how to do it. Otherwise it is an easy fish to maintain in captivity.
OUR FISH
SPECIMEN DETAILS
We had an 18 cm fish of exceptionally dark colouration. Unfortunately it died from being overfed by a friend when we were not home.
AQUARIUM DETAILS
It lived in a 90 cm X 60 cm tank, maintained at 24C. Filtered by a single internal power filter. No plants and only room lighting. Had a coarse gravel substrate with several large rocks placed to provide hiding places. Two 30 cm Oscars also inhabited the tank.
USEFUL LINKS
Native Fish Australia - Sooty grunter page
Contains details of distribution, habitat and aquarium care. Also has an image.
BIG FISH - AUSTRALIAN NATIVE FISH
Has an excellent image (as shown above) and a few notes. You need to scroll down the page.
Created by Alexander and Elisabeth Foreman.
Page constructed by Alexander Foreman.
Copywrite (c) Alexander Foreman
